After being part of one of the most epic Hip-Hop concert tours of both 2022 and 2023 with Nas & Wu-Tang Clan’s N.Y. State of Mind Tour, the members of the Wu-Tang Clan are back to their solo business. Back in July we got to see Method Man & Redman rock The Phoenix Concert Theatre on a quick tour through Canada, and marking the end of the summer would be Raekwon The Chef performing at The Opera House, kicking off the Friday night of the Labour Day long weekend. While Raekwon has performed in Toronto on plenty of tours and festivals with other members of the Wu, it’s been almost a decade since he last rocked a truly solo concert in the city, and fifteen years since he last performed at The Opera House in particular.

Raekwon will be the first to tell you that Toronto is like a second home to him. Over a decade ago, the Staten Island, New York-based emcee founded his own record label, Ice H2O Records while spending some time living here, and has always kept an ongoing connection to the city. Now returning to Toronto in 2024, he’d be back to celebrate a milestone for another one of his business ventures in the city, with his boutique shop 611 Purple Factory turning 5 years old. The shop located at 611 Dundas St. East has been a hub for Toronto fans of Raekwon, Wu-Tang and Hip-Hop in general, being a place to get haircuts, tattoos, exclusive merch, and has even hosted artist meet-and-greets over the years. Before the concert, Raekwon would be hosting a VIP event at The Purple Factory to celebrate the shop’s 5th anniversary, and we decided to check it out before heading over to The Opera House.

For anyone visiting The Purple Factory for the first time, it feels like immersing yourself in a Wu-Tang art exhibit. The walls are decked out in the album art from The Purple Tape itself, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, and there are art displays showcasing rare collectibles like the cassette box set, sneakers designed in the Cuban Linx colourway, and other album-themed sports gear including boxing gloves, bicycles and a basketball. Fans who signed up for the VIP event would get to sip on some tequila cocktails while admiring the look and feel of The Purple Factory, which had mirrors shaped like the Wu-Tang W logo for the barbershop chairs, and other fly imagery like a custom Raptors jersey with “The Purple Tape” written on the back, and gold and platinum album plaques hung up along the ceiling.

Eventually Raekwon himself came out and greeted the crowd, giving an inspirational speech on the vision he and his business partners had for The Purple Factory and a salute to its 5-year anniversary. “When you come in this building, you’re representing real Hip-Hop!” There would be more food and drinks, a cake cutting, and Raekwon would take some time to take pictures and sign autographs as he walked around greeting the fans. Plenty of fans had vinyl records, CDs, paintings and clothing for him to sign, me personally getting his autograph added to my Wu-Tang t-shirt already signed by Ghostface Killah & GZA, and my copy of his book From Staircase To Stage. It was a dope moment interacting with The Chef and celebrating the success of The Purple Factory with him, and shortly after our meet-and-greet we’d head over to The Opera House for the concert.

Brought to us by 5 Elements Entertainment, Raekwon’s concert at The Opera House would have a dope lineup of local emcees opening for him. We arrived at the venue as DJ Mercilless was spinning records, and pretty soon Raw Dog Entertainment’s JDon would get the party started as the host for the evening. He’d toss some free cannabis goodies into the crowd and tested the microphone levels as he performed a couple of his own songs. Keeping the crowd engaged and introducing artists to the stage throughout the night, the first act JDon would bring out would be MLNY, who had a few surprise guests to join him throughout his set.

MLNY would put on a well structured and curated setlist, bringing out Dustin Wareham early on as his first surprise guest to perform their throwback collab “Keep It Movin’,” which brought back memories of seeing them compete against each other at the MIXED BREEDS tournament last year. MLNY’s set would also include a surprise appearance by B1 The Architect for a hype performance of their 2024 track “Check Yoself Remix,” and he’d of course sprinkle in some of his solo tracks like “Andrew Tate,” showcasing a raw delivery of his sharp rhymes.

MLNY would change outfits a few times throughout his performance, next wearing some of the clothes of the late Toronto rapper Lipinski as he did an RIP tribute by performing a cover of Lipinski’s song “Hiding In The Shade.” One of the most hype moments would come next, as MLNY would perform a track that samples the beat from Dan-e-o’s “Dear Hip-Hop,” checking to see if the crowd was sharp enough to pick up on the sample, and would bring out the Scarborough legend himself to perform the 30-year-old throwback. MLNY would play hypeman as Dan-e-o continued with the title track off of his newest album, Vigilante, keeping the crowd hype during his short appearance on stage, and MLNY would rock one more solo joint to close out his action-packed setlist.

The next couple openers seemed to go by quickly as they performed shorter setlists. Next up would be DJ Mo Betta who would bring out an artist whose music I’d be experiencing for the first time, T-Gramz. While the beats were dope and he seemed to have some sharp rhymes, one thing that stood out was that he was rapping over his own vocals, which cluttered up the sound and made it tough for first-time listeners to pick up on the lyrics. Despite this, he had some dope moments in his set, bringing out special guest T Baby God to rap over a medley of beats, and closing out with his latest single “Ahlie.”

The final opener to bless the stage before Raekwon would be an emcee I hadn’t seen perform in a few years, Lyve Kaos. Being part of the crew behind 5 Elements Entertainment (shoutout to Alex), Lyve Kaos would be making his return to Toronto’s live music scene both as a promoter and an artist, and when it comes to emceeing, he hasn’t lost a step. He’d perform a quick 4-song setlist all raw with no backing vocals, with a delivery that made his sharp rhymes stand out. One highlight of his set was the song he closed out with, “I Wonder Why,” which he described as a more positive song compared to his hardcore battle raps, dedicated to his late mother.

There would be a short break for Raekwon’s DJ to get his gear set up, and JDon would return to hype up the crowd as the DJ spun some classic Hip-Hop beats. Pretty soon it would be time for Raekwon himself to take the stage, and the crowd was ready, throwing up their W hand symbols as the DJ played the beat to “Incarcerated Scarfaces” to bring him out.

Kicking things off with a full performance of “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” much of Raekwon’s setlist would be focused around his classic debut solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. He’d salute the crowd, taking a moment to reflect on it being 15 years since he last rocked The Opera House before going in with some more Cuban Linx tracks. The crowd got hyped as he performed “Criminology,” spitting both his own and Ghostface Killah’s verses on the song, and he’d do the same for the classic “Ice Cream,” getting hands waving to the beat.

Raekwon would get a lot of crowd participation going as he went in on some Wu-Tang Clan classics off of their 36 Chambers album, getting the fans to join in and help him cover his fellow Clan members’ verses on “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’,” “Protect Ya Neck,” and “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit.” Even with Rae covering these songs solo, the Wu-Tang classics still hit with the crowd, as the fans rapped along to all the verses before and after his own appearance on each track, and got hyped as he changed up the lyrics on the latter to chant “Toronto n—-z ain’t nothin’ to fuck with!!” Raekwon was just as comfortable covering his fellow Clan members’ verses as he was spitting his own, as he’d cover Inspectah Deck’s standout verse on “Guillotine (Swordz),” and would go acapella rapping Ghostface Killah’s verse on the Cuban Linx track.

Continuing with what was shaping up to be a well-curated setlist, Raekwon would give a shoutout to Queens, New York and would bring out special guest Cormega for a quick greeting. (Side note: Cormega will be headlining his own show at The Phoenix Concert Theatre October 13th, tickets on sale here.) While Cormega didn’t stay to get on the microphone, Raekwon would perform a couple of his own collabs with other Queens legends, covering both Nas’ and his own verse on “Verbal Intercourse,” and performing his verse plus Mobb Deep’s hook on “Eye For A Eye (Your Beef Is Mines).” These underground classics got heads nodding, and Rae would pull out another deep album cut, giving a shoutout to his classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx being nearly 30 years old before performing “Glaciers of Ice” and getting a big reaction out of the crowd.

As with every Wu-Tang concert, there comes a moment where we celebrate the life of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Raekwon would give a shoutout to the recent A&E documentary he helped put together, Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys, and would get the crowd grooving to ODB’s classic “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” While most ODB tributes typically end there, Rae had a special surprise in store for the crowd, bringing out one of ODB’s sons to perform a cover of “Brooklyn Zoo.” The energy got cranked and the crowd of course joined in to help cover the classic joint, with ODB’s son putting a ton of energy into his performance. Like a proud uncle, Raekwon could be seen smiling in awe at the back of the stage.

Getting back into the Raekwon classics, Rae would get the stage lights to turn blue as he did a full performance of “Rainy Dayz,” covering both Ghostface Killah’s and his own verses on the track. He’d do the same with some of his standout moments on Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), mellowing out the crowd with the laid back “Can It Be All So Simple” as he performed both his own and GFK’s verses, and got the crowd resonating with his life story on “C.R.E.A.M.” as he spit his classic opening verse and covered Inspectah Deck’s verse as well. Next pulling out a rare joint he doesn’t usually get to perform when he’s with the Wu-Tang Clan, Rae would nail his verse to the classic Fat Joe posse cut, “John Blaze.”

Nearing the end of his setlist, Raekwon would take a moment to speak on The Purple Factory’s 5-year anniversary, thanking the Toronto crowd for their support over the years, and would get the fans ready for an epic close-out to the show. In a true test to see if the real fans were in the building, Raekwon would perform the Wu-Tang Clan classic “Triumph,” getting the crowd to rap along to all 8 verses on the song before finally arriving at his own verse at the end of the track. After nailing the flow, Raekwon would leave the crowd with one last banger, getting the crowd to bounce as he nailed his featured verse on Outkast’s “Skew It On The Bar-B” before having his DJ play the beat from the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II cut, “Kiss The Ring” for him to walk off stage to.

Overall, this was an epic night celebrating Raekwon’s Purple Factory milestone both at the VIP party and the concert. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Rae hold down a stage on his own, and he showed he can still do it with style as he delivered a masterfully curated setlist. My only gripe is wishing he’d dive more into his solo discography and perform more tracks he doesn’t always get to do when sharing the stage with other Wu-Tang members. Albums cuts off of Cuban Linx Pt. II, Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, and The Wild would have been dope to hear, but Rae completely skipped over them. Otherwise, it was a dope performance that covered the essential Raekwon and Wu-Tang Clan classics, and the crowd was definitely satisfied.

This was 5 Elements Entertainment’s first of hopefully many more shows they put together. Along with bringing Raekwon to The Opera House, they put together a dope lineup of local emcees to showcase some of the best bar-for-bar talent Toronto has to offer. Big thank you to the team for granting this blog media access to review the concert!

Check out this playlist of Wu-Tang concert videos from all the times I’ve seen them over the years.

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